Michael Brown’s family fights Ferguson push for his records

Michael Brown’s parents are objecting to a request from Ferguson for their son’s medical and academic records as the city defends itself against a lawsuit the parents filed over the 2014 police shooting death of the unarmed 18-year-old.

Michael Brown Sr. and Lezley McSpadden, in December court filings, asked U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber in St. Louis to at least limit if not scuttle altogether a push by the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, its former police chief and the officer who shot their son to turn over the documents. The parents say the documents are irrelevant and that the repeated demands for them are harassing and invasive.

Brown’s parents argue in their lawsuit that the death of their son during an August 2014 confrontation with Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson deprived them of financial support through his future potential wages. An attorney for Ferguson, Wilson and the former police chief have countered in court filings that Brown’s lifelong medical records are pertinent to determining his potential life expectancy and future income.

In her 2016 book, “Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil,” McSpadden acknowledged that her son had high blood pressure, headaches, impaired vision and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In court filings rebuffing the push for all of her son’s medical records, Brown’s parents said his afflictions “have no bearing on a person’s life expectancy.”

Join the conversation!

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.